Ann Albano has been cooking for her family since she was 10 years old, but today she's nervous about cooking. Her granddaughter has convinced her to do a pop-up dinner at Butcher & Bee on Sunday.
"I never did a thing like this," she says in her distinctive New York accent. "I'm a housewife. I've cooked for my family, maybe 20 to 25 people. I've entertained a lot of friends, but this is my first time doing something like this. I'm getting very nervous."
To prepare, the 85-year-old, who relocated from New Jersey to a Mt. Pleasant retirement home with her husband Joe two years ago, is keeping it simple, planning a menu of her favorites, dishes she knows will make people happy: spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant parmesan, stuffed mushrooms, chicken parm, tomatoes with mozzarella and pesto sauce, garlicky broccoli rabe, ziti, and ricotta cake.
